The present invention consists generally of an apparatus for delivering a fine spray mist to cool a localized area by evaporative cooling. It is a well know principal that introduction of humidity into a dry atmosphere lowers the ambient atmospheric temperature. Evaporative or "swamp" coolers served as effective refrigeration devices in desert climates for over fifty years. The present invention provides an apparatus which utilizes this evaporative cooling principle in a easy-to-use, portable and efficient manner. More specifically, the present invention consists of a pressurizable tank, a valve for activating the release of fluid from the pressurizable tank, and a spray nozzle coupled to the valve by a quick connect coupler as is known in the art. According to the preferred embodiments of the invention, the pressurizable tank may be of sufficient size and in acceptable packaging to make the entire apparatus portable by hand-carrying, adapted to be worn in a backpack-like configuration or be substantially stationary as a free standing unit.
There are presently no known portable misting apparatus which for delivering humidity into a dry atmosphere to lower the ambient atmospheric temperature in a localized area. What is known in the spraying apparatus art are a variety of devices for directing and applying a spray of fluid to an object, such as crops, lawns, weeds or fire. Generally, these devices may be broadly classified into two categories. The first group, consisting of motor driven sprayers, is represented by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,421,697 issued to Marks on Jan. 14, 1969, 3,539,110 issued to Kobayashi on Nov. 10, 1970, 3,802,511 issued to Good, Jr. on Apr. 9, 1974 and 4,651,903 issued to Pagliai on Mar. 24, 1987. This first group of patents broadly disclose portable backpack-like sprayers. The second group, consisting of non-motor-driven sprayers, is represented by U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,911,157 issued to Converse on Nov. 3, 1959, 3,352,364 issued to De Coste on Nov. 14, 1967, 3,993,245 issued to Smith on Nov. 23, 1976, and 4,688,643 issued to Carter et al on Apr. 25, 1987. Of this second group, only the patents issued to Coste and Smith disclose a sprayer having a pressurizable container and a spray nozzle. In the de Coste patent, the fluid in the container is directly pressurized by introduction of pressurized air through an air valve into the fluid container. Upon exhaustion of the air pressure within the container, the container must be re-pressurized from a pressurized air source. The Smith patent discloses a spraying device having a pressurizable container where a manual air pump is used to pressurize the fluid within the container.
Thus, an examination of the spraying apparatus art clearly discloses that containers for the fluid are pressurized by either motor power, air pressure directly applied to the fluid chamber or manual pumping. The motor powered sprayers tend to be heavy, noisy, cumbersome to use and require either fuel or an electrical cord connecting the sprayer to an electrical source. The air pressurized sprayers require that the user has constant access to a source of pressurized air to recharge the container, while the manual pumped containers provide limited pressurization and require manual effort to pressurize.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,524,475 entitled "Expansion Tank" issued Aug. 18, 1970 to Chester Kirk discloses a tank, the interior of which is divided into two chambers by a flexible diaphragm. One of the chambers is adapted to be pre-charged by a pressurized gas, while the other chamber is adapted to receive a fluid. This patent discloses a tank which is sold and marketed by Amtrol under the trademark DIATROL as a shock suppressor to prevent water knock in plumbing. Thus, the known use for the tank disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 3,524,475 is to fluid pressure within a closed fluid circuit.
It will be understood, therefore, by those skilled in the relevant art, that there is no known spray cooling apparatus for evaporative cooling a localized area which employs a refillable constantly pressurized tank, a valve for activating a flow of pressurized fluid from the tank and a quick-connect coupling for coupling and decoupling a variety of spray nozzle attachments.